Entries Tagged 'The Church' ↓

This is a cropped and sepia-fied version of a photo I took this past Sunday at church, before any of the congregants arrived.

(As always, click for larger sizes.)

I knew that this was being written months ago, but never actually read it myself until now . . .

Check out this article from Reformed Worship magazine on Grace Central Presbyterian (my church) and its ministry to downtown Columbus.  Good stuff.

A discussion at small group this past week got me thinking about this . . .

Why is it that so many denominations and church planting networks choose — either as a matter of policy or a matter of “that’s-how-we’ve-always-done-it” — to send church planters out on a 1:1 basis (ie: one planter for one church). It seems to make more biblical — and common — sense to send guys out to plant on a 2:1 basis (at least).

Consider Jesus’ sending of the seventy-two (or the seventy, depending on your translation) to minister. He sent them in pairs. When the Holy Spirit established the church at Antioch, he sent not only Paul, but Barnabas with him. I could go into some Old Testament examples of plural ministry like Jonathan and David, Elisha and Elijah, and others, and I think that those have merit — but honestly, I think those make a weak case. Fact is, though, that the biblical pattern for establishing ministry in the New Testament (at the very least) seems to be a plurality of leadership.

As far as common sense goes, it simply stands to reason that while one man may be extraordinarily gifted, there will still be areas of deficiency that another planter could meet. Additionally, a single church planter lacks the accountability that comes with having another biblically qualified elder planting with him. Sure, he might be “accountable” to his Launch Team/Core Group, but if he’s the sole “boss”, then what does that accountability really mean? Such a man may become arrogant and dictatorial.

(This could also be an argument to show the folly of single-elder church government, as opposed to a plurality of elders, but that’ll wait for another day.)

Don’t get me wrong — having more than one planter doesn’t guarantee success or faithfulness. Additionally, highly effective churches have been planted with only one guy at the helm. It can be done. But should it? Why don’t more denominations and planting networks require a plurality to start a church?

Any thoughts?
(I think it’s money. Actually, I know it’s money in at least one case.)

Joe Thorn provides his advice for those of us discerning a call to full-time vocational Gospel ministry.

Very helpful stuff.

Bought this for Zoë on Tuesday from babyGap.

Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal. It’s a cute dress, summer is approaching, and it’s usually not a noteworthy thing for parents to buy new clothes for their kids On this trip, though, I went in there specifically looking for a pretty white dress.

For her baptism.
(And no, she has not yet made what I’d call a “credible profession” of faith in Christ.)

Buying it freaked me out a little bit. Even though Amy and I have studied and prayed through this and have come to agree that the children of believers should be baptized, it’s still a bit weird that we’re actually going through with it. Kinda like the feeling I got when I first put on my suit on my wedding day.

More on this later.

[By the way: no way was I about to get her one of those crazy ornate wedding-dress-like baptismal gowns that we often see -- check out this page for examples of what I'm talking about. No way. One -- EXPENSIVE, especially for a one-time event. Two -- we wanted something that she'd be able to wear again throughout the summer. Three -- it'd just look strange in our church, I think.]

I meant to post this last night after we got home. We introduced this song at church yesterday as a prelude. Seemed to have gone over pretty well (at least, as well as it could have with me singing it ;-)). We’ll probably work it into the rotation sooner or later, but what a perfect Easter song.

(Audio clip here - and no, that’s not me singing.)

Hark, the voice of love and mercy,
Sounds aloud from Calvary!
See, it rends the rocks asunder,
Shakes the earth and veils the sky!
“It is finished, it is finished,”
Hear the dying Savior cry.
“It is finished, it is finished,”
Hear the dying Savior cry.

“It is finished,” O what pleasure,
Do these charming words afford.
Heavenly blessings, without measure,
Flow to us from Christ the Lord.
“It is finished, it is finished,”
Saints the dying words record.
“It is finished, it is finished,”
Saints the dying words record.

Finished all the types and shadows,
Of the ceremonial law;
Finished all that God had promised;
Death and hell no more shall awe.
“It is finished, it is finished,”
Saints from hence your comfort draw.
“It is finished, it is finished,”
Saints from hence your comfort draw.

Tune your harps anew, ye seraphs;
Join to sing the pleasing theme;
Saints on earth and all in heaven,
Join to praise Immanuel’s name.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Glory to the bleeding lamb!
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Glory to the bleeding lamb!

[It is Finished - Part II (Hark, The Voice of Love and Mercy) - © 2006 Red Mountain Music]

A scenario to consider:

• A particular evangelical church is in the plateauing/declining stage.
• Said church hires young, handsome, dynamic new pastor.
• Said pastor preaches a sermon to his new flock on the assurance of salvation.
• Said sermon has as one point (among others) that to be assured of salvation, one must be able to point back to a particular moment in time when he “asked Jesus into his heart”.
• A woman who’s been a member and leader in the church for years is shaken by this point, as she can’t remember a definitive moment that she came to believe. She proceeds to pray the “Sinner’s Prayer” right there as the pastor preaches.
• She informs the pastor after the service that she had done this, and a few weeks later, she’s baptized.
• A few weeks after her baptism, the woman is informed by the church’s elders that, after meeting about the matter, they’ve decided that it would be best to remove her as Head Deaconess (and from the deaconesses altogether), because she’s a “new Christian”.
• She is more than a little put off by this decision and withdraws almost completely from the church.

This actually happened recently at a church around here (and before anyone starts wondering, no, not my church). This scenario probably plays out at least monthly in countless evangelical churches, honestly. I was bothered when I heard about it — horrified and disappointed, actually. It’s never made sense to me that so many otherwise solid churches teach that one’s salvation can be judged by whether or not one has prayed a particular prayer (and remembers it). Scripture teaches that faith in Christ is a gift given by God (”I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” - Ezek. 36:26-27), without regard to whether someone has prayed a prayer, signed a card, raised a hand, or has responded to an “altar call”, and without regard to how “good” someone has been. Assurance doesn’t come from any of these things. A better question would be “do you believe at this moment? Do you trust and treasure Jesus now?”

Back to this (now former) deaconess at this church for a moment.  Let’s entertain the notion that the elders are technically right in removing her from her position of leadership.  Scripture does indeed warn again giving positions of office in the church to new converts.  Let’s say that she really was a new convert who’d previously had no real faith in Christ.  Fine.  Why, then, has she been a member of your church for the past ten years?  What did you miss in the membership interview process?  The whole “credible profession of faith” thing, maybe?  That’s kind of important.  Or did she give a credible profession, and now you think that she was just full of crap (or “mistaken”)?

(I find it much more likely that she did indeed already have saving faith in Christ and that she just had no remembrance of exactly when that began.  As it stands, the church has lost a valuable leader and her faith is shaken, probably unnecessarily.)

Now, don’t get me wrong; there can be great value in remembering a time and place that you first consciously trusted Christ. Great value.  As a matter of fact, I remember my own “moment” like that . . . I was six years old. It was a hot summer night in Mobile, Alabama, and I was on my grandfather’s front porch with my Dad and my Aunt Lily. They talked to me about Jesus, about how everyone needs him and that being a “good boy” isn’t enough, and asked if I wanted to be “saved”. I said yes and we prayed together (actually, I think my Dad did all the praying). I was happy to be headed to Heaven, and spent the rest of the night trash-talking the Devil and shooting him with pretend Jesus Ice Beams from my newly justified fingertips. It’s a precious memory for me, and God used that time to draw me to him.

What I’m saying is that the occurrence of such a moment (or its remembrance) isn’t a ground for reconciliation to God. While it may encourage some believers if they can look back on such a moment (as it does me), binding someone’s conscience by making it a litmus test is wrong and baseless. Not only that, but I can’t even enumerate the number of people I’ve heard say “well, I know I’m going to Heaven because I prayed a prayer/went forward/signed a card when I was little!”

Pastors . . . teachers . . . Christians: stop believing this lie. Then, stop lying to others. You’re spooking many true believers and damaging their faith, and you may be giving false assurance to people who actually don’t believe anything.  Just preach Christ and him crucified.  He’ll draw those who he will, when he will, and he may not do it with a “Sinner’s Prayer” or an altar call.  It’s okay.  Really.  Jesus isn’t a formula.

An interesting development in the world of American Presbyterianism . . . the New Wineskins Association of Churches, a group of theologically orthodox churches in the left-leaning Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is getting out of Dodge and joining the more moderate Evangelical Presbyterian Church as the New Wineskins Presbytery.

Episcopalian bishop Peter James Lee is quoted as having said “if you must make a choice between heresy and schism, always choose heresy”. I’m glad the NWAC disagrees.

We’re thinking of having Zoë baptized.

*ducks bottles, tomatoes, and various other objects being thrown by my Baptist friends and readers*

Most of you know that for the last few months, I’ve been working as Director of Ministry for my church. It was a rare opportunity for someone like me (no seminary degree and no “full-time” ministry experience), but since I’ve felt a call to ministry ever since I got out of high school, I jumped on it.

Thing is, I suck at administrative-pastor-type stuff (which is pretty much what this job is) . . . I can get it done, but inefficiently, and it stresses the hell out of me. So, my pastor and I had a talk a couple of weeks ago and think it best for the church, for me, and for my family that they find someone else for the position. If we were a bigger, more established church, they would’ve just changed my job description to something that better fits my gifts (teaching, pastoral care, etc), but as it stands, they really need someone to do the admin stuff, and it ain’t me.

Still, I’m really disappointed and discouraged by this whole thing. On good days, I’m assured of God’s sovereignty and care over the situation and know that if this is good for the church, then it’s also good for me. On bad days (ie: most days), I feel completely defective as a Christian, a husband/father, a man, and a human being. The last three years have been full of tumult and uncertainty, and we were just starting to feel like we were in a place of stability . . . and now this. I’m not so sure about this call to full-time ministry anymore, either, but I don’t know. My pastor gave me some encouragement, in that he sees definite teaching and pastoring gifts and abilities in me, and that he wants me to stick around and become an elder, so . . . that helped. Still, this sucks.

The plan (for now) is to go back to IT . . . which is fine for a season anyway, since it’s something I have skill and experience in. I just don’t want to be an IT guy for big corporations for the rest of my life. Being in ministry has really sapped away my tolerance for putting forth my vocational efforts toward fixing computers and networks, so Joe End-User can go about fulfilling some corporate mission statement. Obviously, any work is meaningful if done as unto the Lord, but at the same time . . . my heart is now in ministry.

I’m now fairly certain that I want to put forth as much time and energy as possible into giving people the Gospel and helping them discover and user their gifts in the local church to further God’s kingdom. So (in my head), the plan is to go back to IT to feed the family, finish my bachelor’s in something like network security (which should only take a year or so), get a quality M. Div or MTS, and then find a position in a church in which I can actually use my gifts, skills, and knowledge. Long view, and maybe unlikely, but that’s what I’ve got so far. (There’s actually a possibility of a couple of good seminaries that’d be willing to accept me under “special circumstances”, since I don’t have a Bachelor’s degree.)

Anyway, that’s that. A few specifics to pray for:
1) Pray that I would run to Christ with this despair, because honestly, he’s the last one I want to take this to right now. I’d rather take it to Mr. Frito Lay, Mr. Sam Adams, and Mr. Internet for a while, and that’s just not healthy.
2) Pray that I would trust in God’s care and sovereignty over my life, my family, my vocation(s), and my future.
3) Pray that I would submit joyfully to my pastor’s leadership and that the temptation to run from the church I’ve covenanted with would go away.
4) Pray that things won’t be “weird” for too long at church (people still treating me as if I’m on staff, etc).
5) Pray that I’ll be able to find gainful employment quickly.
6) Pray that I’d figure out just what the heck to do as far as discerning whether or not I’m called to full-time ministry.